


The Vow

by calcalore



Category: Shatter Me Series - Tahereh Mafi
Genre: Angst and Pain and Suffering, F/M, Warnette, also restore me spoilers kinda, hi this is nothing but pain, restore me, you're gonna suffer and you're gonna like it
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-13
Updated: 2018-03-13
Packaged: 2019-03-31 00:17:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,102
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13963224
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/calcalore/pseuds/calcalore
Summary: "The Vow" (Nicolas Sparks) Warnette AU where Juliette has an accident and doesn't remember falling in love with Warner





	1. I'll Be Here When You Wake Up

_"Come back to life, love. I'll be here when you wake up."_

 

* * *

 

 

Helplessness wasn’t a feeling he gave into often. Not even on his worst days as a child, the days when his father would shape his rage into a weapon, the days when his regency felt like a noose, the days when his mother hadn’t even recognized her own son on Sycamore street.

Those strained days of his past had been colored with desperation, anxiety, despair, but never helplessness. Because there was always something to be done, something more to fix, a job to do, and a sector to run.

That was all gone now.

And in the wake of its disappearance, in the loss of Juliette, the grotesque, twisted monster known as helplessness had taken over Warner’s life.

He didn’t know how to stop it from consuming him whole.

 

* * *

 

 

It felt like the fog of a dream. Far from a sweet lullaby. Closer to the endless darkness of a nightmare, one from which he would never wake. Warner was lost in the clouds of his own consciousness, and he wasn’t sure if he could ever come down.

There had been an accident.

Reports of what happened depended on whom you asked. Some said the car crash happened prior to the explosion, just after the building fell. Others claimed the bombs caused the rubble, the deadly pileup a consequence of the blocked road. Nobody could say for sure because everyone was dead. Except for Juliette.

It was idiotic of him to let her out of his sight, to let her travel in her exhausted state without even a proper guard to protect her if her Energy failed. Carelessness had bred these consequences. The woman he loved could have **died** and he wasn’t there to— to—

To do what? She made it devastatingly clear she wanted nothing to do with him anymore.

So why did he feel like this was still his fault? 

This guilt was a crushing weight; his love for her was becoming an immense burden he wasn’t sure he could shoulder alone for much longer. The only thing preventing both from demolishing him entire was the rhythm of her heart rate sounding throughout the hospital room.

Dozens of people were buzzing around them, Sonya and Sara among them. Castle was in the corner quietly listening to treatment options. Kent was somewhere in the hallway with James. Kishimoto was arguing with one of the doctors and gesturing wildly.

Warner couldn’t make out at all what was being said. He couldn’t identify _any_ distinct conversation among he chaos. The lights seemed too bright, the air was too thin, this body he was in was too weak to endure this agony...

He barely grazes Juliette’s hand with his own, knowing it would be against her wishes but unable to live another moment without touching her. Every breath could be her last, every pause between heartbeats the one that kills her. His fingers brush over her pulse, just in case the machines are lying and her heart rate is nothing more than his imagination. But there it is— weak, yet steady; proof of her life underneath his fingertips.

Her fingers twitch,

and suddenly he’s up, out of his chair, scanning her face for any sign of those eyes. He just needed to see her eyes one last time if this was the end.

“JULIETTE! Juliette, love, are you there?? Are you awake?! It’s Aaron, love, I’m right here…” The entire room goes silent, he clutches her hand even tighter now. “Sweetheart, please, PLEASE, I need you to say something, open your eyes, just _tell_ me you’re listening, _tell me_ that you’re here, that you’ll stay…”

For a few moments, nothing but the monitor sounds in the room.

And then she rips her hand away from his, bringing it to her chest with a deep breathe in.

His bones turn to liquid right then and there.

“Shit!” someone, probably Kishimoto, says from somewhere in the room. But it sounds so, so far away.

“ _Aaron_?” she whispers, and her voice is faint, so small, and so exhausted. He’s not sure how standing is still possible in this moment.

“Juliette? Love, I’m right here.” He grabs her hand again.

She rips it away. “You can’t touch me!” Her eyes snap open.

That wave of relief that washed over him moments ago turns to ice.

He can feel it then- her confusion, her fear, her sadness. There’s _so_ much of it, too much. He’s taken aback. And then she looks at him.

And it spikes with such intensity he almost falls to the floor.

Sadness turns to grief, anger, disgust, fear... swirling inside of her like a hurricane. She recoils at the sight of him, trying to bury herself into her blankets and disappear altogether. But why— why would she react like... this?

A thousand questions push at his lips like a waterfall begging to be loosed until— until she says 

“Why is _Warner_ here?”

with such _disgust_ and _loathing_ and suddenly those words are dust in his mouth, the oxygen filling his lungs is ash and he can’t breathe, he can’t think—

Someone whistles from the back of the room. “That bad of a breakup, huh,” Kishimoto jokes, but his eyes are deadly serious as he evaluates her conditon.

Juliette tears her focus away from Warner and finally seems to notice the room is full with people. Her fear spikes again, her confusion and stress swirling inside her like a windstorm, and it’s all too much—

“We were worried about you, J,” Kishimoto continues, walking up to her side.

“How are you feeling?” Sonya asks tentatively.

Some of that fear turns to annoyance as she glances at Kishimoto, and then a hint of kindness as she looks to Sonya and Sara, to the doctors surrounding her.

“What— what happened to me?” she asks, and her voice is so _quiet_ and so _terrified_. And then her hands travel up her face, to her head, and she’s _panicking_ as she realizes her hair is gone, it’s gone.

She turns back to Warner, her gaze is sharp enough to tear him in two.

“What did you _do_ to me?!” Juliette shouts. “Where did you- how is- and… and _what happened_ to my— my—“ and she starts crying.

Her pain is worse than a knife, worse than his own, because it’s so sharp, so fresh and raw...

“Woah woah, J, calm down,” Kishimito says, moving to grab her hand. 

“You can’t TOUCH me,” she yells at him through the tears.

Kishimito’s taken aback at that. “What do you mean? You’re mad at me too?”

“I’m not—“ she stumbles, heaving in breath after breath. “Kenji, I could KILL you.”

“Uh yeah, that’s not really anything new.”

She looks at him through the tears, only getting more and more agitated, sinking further and further into this pit of sadness and despair and Warner can feel himself sliding down there with her.

“Juliette, do you remember anything before the accident?” Sara chimes in.

“Accident, what— what accident?” 

Everyone in the room goes silent.

“Juliette, sweetheart, what’s the last thing you remember?” Warner asks, his voice hoarse and barely louder than a whisper.

Her eyes shoot back to him, filled with ferocity once again. “ _Don’t_ you DARE call me that, not after what you did to _Adam_ , you’re _a monster_.”

And then she looks around the room, suddenly realizing Kent isn’t even here, and the storm inside her worsens “Where is _he_ , what have to _done_ to him??

But all Warner can hear is the word “monster” repeating back like a mantra in his head, he’s not sure if it’s her voice or his own. Her anger has cut him in two and left him in pieces all over the floor and it’s too much to handle— to much to bear—

“Juliette, Kent’s right outside, I don’t get why you’re so concerned about him when...” Kishimoto starts, but trails off as his eyes widen.

The whole room stops in realization.

Castle finally pipes up from the corner. “Would you mind giving us the room?” he asks the doctors. “I think there’s more going on here than we realize. The girls can monitor her for a bit.”

The room empties, and Castle disappears from the room a moment.

He returns with Kent. 

And suddenly it all clicks into place

If her disgust with him was too much to stomach, her pain and fear and sadness, then the love and relief she feels looking at his half brother only confirm what Warner was beginning to suspect.

 

This is hell. 

And the devils of his past seem like angels now.


	2. Some Kind of Extraordinary Dream

_“Did you know,” he’s whispering, “that I wake up, every morning, convinced you’ll be gone?” Wake up, I keep telling myself. Wake up. Pay attention. “That all of this,” he says, “these moments, will be confirmed as some kind of extraordinary dream? But then I hear you speak to me,” he says. “I see the way you look at me and I can feel how real it is. I can feel the truth in your emotions, and in the way you touch me,” he whispers, the back of his hand brushing my cheek. My eyes flicker open. I blink once, twice. His lips are set in a soft smile._

_“Aaron,” I whisper._

_“I love you,” he says._

 

 

* * *

 

“Adam,” Juliette says with such admiration and _love_ in her voice. The tears continue to silently trail down her face, but she doesn’t seem to notice as she takes the sight of him in. 

“You’re alright, you’re healthy, _you’re_...” she loses the ability to speak and the tears take over again.

Everyone is stunned.

Including Kent.

“Uh...” he scratches the back of his head. “Yeah. Yeah I’m good.”

She motions for him to come over, everyone else in the room irrelevant as her hands meet his.

And she pulls him in for a kiss.

Warner trips over a chair and lands on his ass. Kenji mumbles something along the lines of, “What the fuck is going on.” Castle, Sara, and Sonya are silent, stunned.

Adam is frozen, too shocked for a moment to move, but then rips himself away. “Jesus, Juliette... what...” he’s suddenly breathless. “What are you doing??”

She pauses for a moment. “I... I’m so happy you’re okay. I thought... I don’t know. I thought...” she bites her lip, and looks like she’s about to start crying again.

“Hey hey hey....” Adam says to her, and then looks around the room, at Warner’s and Kenji’s stricken face, at the silence of everyone around him. “Can someone tell me what the hell is going on?

“They haven’t explained that exactly to me either,” Juliette says, moving to grab his hand. “Can’t you just... aren’t you happy to see me??”

Adam just looks to Castle for an explanation.

Castle furrows his brow and looks at Sonya. “Is it possible...”

“Yes… Yes it’s possible,” Sonya replies, looking at Sara. “The damage to her frontal lobe...”

“Could have resulted in personality changes, memory loss...”

“I’m sorry— _what_?” Kenji blinks.

“Juliette, can you tell me where you think you are right now?” Castle asks her.

She clutches Adam’s arm harder practically pulling him onto the bed with her. Adam clears his throat and tries to discreetly pull away, but Juliette doesn’t seem to notice.

Warner looks devastated.

Kenji moves to the other side of the room and extends a hand to get him off the floor.

“We’re— we’re not at Omega Point?” Juliette questions.

Warner almost falls over again, practically taking Kenji with him. But he manages to stand up and lean on Kishimoto for support.

“Omega Point is go—“

“—everyone!” Castle interrupts before Kenji can finish. “Please meet me in the hallway.” But he eyes Juliette’s worries face, her refusal to let go of Adam. “Except, Mr, Kent, would you mind staying with Ms. Ferrars. We’ll only be a moment.” 

He gives him a small, sad smile, and Adam nods. Seems to understand what’s going on and what his role in it is.

Kenji moves to help drag Warner out of the room, and Juliette eyes them suspiciously.

“Hey! Will someone explain this to me? I still don’t understand why _Warner_ is here?!” She turns to Adam, but everyone overhears, “I SHOT him. How is he _alive?_ ”

Adam says nothing in reply, watching them all leave the room.

Warner drags himself to the hallway before he can hear anything more. Before the world beneath him can shatter into smaller and sharper fragments, before it can break and disappear into nothing at all.

 

 


End file.
